10 Best Fun and Free Fall Activities for Families

Here you see about best fun and fall activities for families. After the Labor Day celebrations, the school year is well on its way and the next holiday won’t be until Thanksgiving. This means that if you want to spend some quality time with the family, you can only schedule it during fall weekends.

The good news is that there are plenty of fun yet budget-friendly activities that you can do as a family, which can serve as your way of spending quality time together.

Instead of busting your budget by going to the movies together as a family, you can take full advantage of the colors of autumn when thinking of things to do.

Here’s a list of the top ten budget-friendly activities for families:

1. Go college scouting:

10 Best Fun and Free Fall Activities for Families

What’s the nearest community college or local university in your area? These educational establishments typically hold weekends where they encourage families to check out the facilities of the school. Aside from giving potential students free school tours, they also organize activities like outdoor concerts, sporting events, special programs and food booths – some of which are free for all. Even if you do not have a kid who is college-bound, these activities are open to the public so you can check out the schedule and get the family together for a fun school trip. This becomes even more enjoyable for parents who have kids who are already in high school. Use the event to encourage your college-bound son or daughter to check out the facilities and maybe even meet some of the students who go there.

10 Best Fun and Free Fall Activities for Families

2. Go on an apple picking trip:

One of the most popular activities for families during the fall season is to go apple picking. Check out the nearest apple orchard in your area and go apple picking. For the fruits that you will be taking home, you can turn them into apple pies, cobbler, cider, preserves or similar delicious goodies. Check out the recipes online. If you have a baby, you can also turn the fruits into homemade applesauce. To make the fruits last even longer, why not freeze or preserve them? The possibilities of what you can do with apples are practically endless, and the highlight of it is the apple picking activity that you will go to with the rest of the family.

10 Best Fun and Free Fall Activities for Families

3. Bask in the wonderful fall colors by taking a hike:

During the autumn seasons, one of the best shows of nature is the changing color of the leaves. Take full advantage of this by planning a hike as a family. Pack your picnic basket and cooler, then take the entire family with you for a short hike somewhere beautiful. Make sure that the location will give you the full colors of autumn and enjoy the crisp, clean air.

You can even encourage the kids to collect interesting pine cones and colorful leaves to make their very own arts and crafts projects. All you need for this outing is a basketful of goodies that you can snack on after the hike. Check out the interesting trails in your area so that you can bask in the wonderful colors of autumn.

4. Fall-iffy your home:

During your nature hike, make sure to bring a jar which you can fill up with leaves, cones and other fall-related items that can be found in nature. You can make a wreath made from natural cones that you collected during your hike and display it on your front door. Create table runners using a string of colorful autumn leaves.

You can update your dining table’s décor by adding some fall elements like flower vases or candle containers decorated with cones of leaves. The idea is to turn the décor of your home’s theme into something that has to do with autumn. Add in some pine or fall leaves scent for added effect, and you can fall-ify your home.

5. Create handicraft projects:

If you have plenty of other stuff left from your nature hike, you can also create handcrafted projects. One example is a bird feeder made from pine cone. Make sure that you have plenty of pine cones which you can tie with a string. Tie the string on top of the cone, then apply small amounts of peanut butter on the surface.

Top with bird seed and hang them in strategic spots outside your home. Once they are hung, you can simply stop and wait for the birds to stop by your front lawn or backyard garden for a quick nibble on the bird seeds.

Halloween is the next big occasion that you need to prepare for as a family, so use an entire weekend at home to come up with costume ideas. Instead of ordering one from online stores like Amazon or trying your luck at the local dress shops in your area, you can simply look for cheap materials or use ones that you already have at home.

Go online and look for instructions on how you can make Halloween costumes without having to buy them from stores. Whether it’s a superhero, vegetables, a historical character, an animal or a cartoon character, there are plenty of Halloween costumes that you can make at home. Turn it into a fun activity with the kids, and save plenty of money while you’re at it.

7. Create a bed of leaves that the kids can jump into:

Another popular activity which does not require you to spend even just one cent is putting together a bed of leaves that the kids can jump into. Most homes usually have back yards or front lawns which get covered in leaves during the fall season. Instead of readily putting away the leaves, take full advantage of them by raking them together into a huge pile.

Get the kids to make individual piles which they can use as outdoor beds, or create one giant bed together. The bigger the pile is, the more fun it is to jump on them. Afterwards, you can simply bag all the leaves together to be thrown away, or you can think of other creative ways to use them.

8. Go pumpkin picking:

Aside from apple orchards, you can also visit pumpkin farms. Do it a week or two before the actual Halloween celebrations. Check out the nearest pumpkin farm in your area and pick them out to bring home. You can either turn the pumpkin into Halloween or Christmas decors. After taking the pumpkin home, you can open the top and scoop out the fruit inside.

Once the pumpkin is cleaned into a hollow fruit, you can start the carving process. There are many patterns that will allow you to make intricate, scary patterns on the face of the pumpkin. You can also check out some free pumpkin templates online.

You can print the templates out, trace them onto the face of the pumpkin and then carve that out. Afterwards, you can place small candles inside the carved pumpkin and place them in special areas outside or inside your home.

9. Prepare your yard for the Halloween:

After finishing the pumpkin carving project, why not go all-out in preparing your yard for the Halloween? Make some really scary cut-outs, use mannequins or scary spiders with faux webs that you can hang on your front door. The kids who will go knocking on your door will be in for a treat once they see your home all decked out for the holiday.

10. Organize a bake-and-sell event:

Finally, you can organize a bake-and-sell event. Using the apples or pumpkins that you gathered during your fruit-picking activity, you can put together other ingredients and come up with some delicious baked goodies. You can bake pies, muffins, cupcakes and other baked goodies using the fruits as main ingredients. Wrap them in Halloween-themed boxes and sell them for profit. You can set up a table outside or simply have the kids sell the baked goodies to your neighbors or their friends at school.